Whether you have an itty-bitty fridge freezer or a large deep freeze, it doesn’t help you a whole lot if you don’t know what you have. Often we forget about something so long that we end up chucking it. They say Americans waste 25 to 30% of the food they buy. Think of the resources – and money! – we could save if we never wasted food.

Over the years, I’ve learned how to keep a freezer inventory that works for me. It’s pretty simple and involves zero technology.

Our theme this February is Love Your Freezer! Jessica Fisher, our guest expert and the author of Not Your Mother's Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook and Good Cheap Eats, is one of the savviest people we know when it comes to the freezer. She's sharing her best tips this month to help us save money, save time, and love our freezers more!— Faith & The Kitchn Team

I’ve been cooking independently (not in my parents' home) for about twenty-five years. I’ve been a young college student, a newlywed, a high school teacher, and the mom of one, two, three… six children. While I don’t consider myself old, thank you very much, I guess I’ve spent a good amount of time in the kitchen.

Even before I moved away from home, the kitchen was one of my favorite places. Whether I was baking with my grandmother or helping my mom prep dinner for our large family, the kitchen was my happy place. And over time, my freezer has become one of my most beloved possessions.

When I was at the grocery store last week, I noticed the meat department was selling plastic buckets for turkey brining that looked like the ones sold at hardware stores. They were probably about five gallons in size and two feet tall. How in the world would you fit that in your refrigerator? Unless you're lucky enough to have a second refrigerator, the only way a bucket large enough to brine a turkey would fit in the fridge is if a lot of the shelves were removed. But, no refrigerator shelves on Thanksgiving? Not very practical!

Instead of squeezing a bucket into the fridge, try this trick: Brine your turkey in a refrigerator drawer.

Tonight we want you to do something new. Go home, tug on your fridge, and scootch it away from the wall. That’s right. This little exercise in fridge-tugging and a 5-minute task are going to help your fridge run better and maybe even save you money. Here’s why.

Q: Simple question: is there a quiet, silent refrigerator? I've never bought one before, but now I see that as the major problem. I don't care about all the other stuff (how it looks, cleaning) just a refrigerator that makes no noise. No motor boat in the kitchen. I can't find a quiet one! I'll buy a mini if it's quiet. Any recommendations?

For the first time in several decades I've found myself living without a chest freezer. After the shock that I couldn't store enough ground beef to feed a small army in case of a zombie apocalypse, I adjusted and started to store only the essentials. The hard part? My freezer is the size of a postage stamp.